Pregnant nun shocks church

A nun who kept her pregnancy a secret has shocked the Roman Catholic Church by giving birth to a baby boy and naming him Francesco in honour of the Pope.

The 31-year-old El Salvador nun called an ambulance after suffering from severe stomach pains on Wednesday, the UK's Telegraph reported.

She gave birth to the 7.7lbs boy only a few hours later.

It appeared the nun had kept her pregnancy a secret from the Church, going as far as to deny she could be pregnant while she was being taken to hospital.

"It's not possible, I'm a nun," she told doctors, according to the Italian press.

The pregnancy has embarrassed the Church, and the nun will be forced to leave her convent in Rieti, north of Rome, to "lead a secular life with her baby, away from religious institutions", according to a spokesman from Delio Lucarelli, the bishop of Rieti.

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She may have gotten pregnant while visiting El Salvador in 2013.

Sisters at the convent said they were unaware that the nun, who has not been named, was expecting a child.

"We noticed she had put on weight but recently she had kept herself to herself," one said.

The local diocese and the mayor of Rieti, Simone Petrangeli, have offered their help.